Misplaced Intentions
by Lierene
Summary: Request! Altair finds a way to weasel out of doing some work, but at Malik's expense. After a squabble in the Bureau, can Altair find a way to really win Malik's time and attention or will it all blow up in his face! R&R!


A/N: Okay, this started out as a one shot for a friend, but turned into a multi-chapter _thing! _I would love for you to read and comment, any suggestions will be read and carefully scrutinized and then considered. xD

I do have an idea of where this is going, but I'm still not entirely sure. But, anyway! I hope you enjoy! Please no flames, though! _Don't like it, don't read it_. Very simple.

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Today was not Malik's day at all. Every time he tried to work, nothing would get done. Why? Because of a certain assassin who decided that bothering Malik was far more important then doing his own work. For example, information gathering. While information gathering was a great way to test a novice's newly developed skills, it was also something that even the most skilled assassins had to do at times. Altair, was no exception. At all.

But of course Altair is a stubborn man who thinks very highly of himself, as he should have every right to, but makes a horrible habit of thinking he is much better than certain people, such as those novices. Why should he have to do such a petty boring tasks when he could easily just get someone who obviously needs practice in such areas to do so for him.

And so, Altair paid off one of the newbie assassins to gather information in his place, leaving the rest of the day to do whatever he pleased, which included one of his favorite activities; Bothering Malik.

* * *

"Hey, Malik, wha -"

"No."

"You hadn't even let me finish my sentence." Altair made a face. "How rude!"

"Don't you dare lecture me on being rude, Altair." Malik looked up, giving Altair a 'don't try my patience' look. Altair always thought it to be rather cute, the way he raised his eyebrows like that.

"What makes you think I am the one being so rude, rafiq?" Altair asked, playfully.

Malik sighed. "You mean aside from the fact that you are an insufferable ignorant ass who cares for no one but yourself? I mean, please do correct me if I am mistaken…"

"Your words wound me so…", Altair touched his hand to his heart, feigning hurt.

"Awww…do you need a kiss to make it better?" The sarcasm almost burned his throat.

"Yes, please!"

"No." Malik's response was short and blunt as he glanced back down at his paperwork.

"B-but -"

"No."

"Then why did you offer if you weren't planning to comply with it..?" Altair pouted childishly and crossed his arms for dramatic effect, knowing full well that it would never work with Malik.

"Because…"

"Because why?"

"Just because…"

"Because why?"

"Because you bother me! I'm tired of your annoying antics. You have been bothering me all week! Every day for a WEEK! Go pick on someone who might actually care to amuse you, because right now, I have better things to do, like real work. Like real assassins who have other responsibilities. Real things. Not like you who just manipulates the lower ranks to do them, instead of being a real man and doing them yourself." Malik's reply wasn't meant to be so harsh. It sort of just slipped out. Malik mentally cursed. God, what had he just done…?

Altair didn't respond. He just stood there and stared blankly at Malik, then turned on his heel and left. The rustling of his robes and clanking of his boots was all that was heard from the younger assassin as he parted without even a second glance.

Malik sighed heavily, "Why me…?"

* * *

Altair stalked out of the bureau, cheeks red and fists clenched. How dare he, He thought, pushing people out of his way, stomping down the street as he did so, still fuming. He had no where to go right now, really. He just needed to get away from Malik.

"And he calls me the 'insufferable ass'," He huffed as he stopped, finally settling himself down on a bench. He crossed his arms and glared haughtily at the ground at his feet.

'Now what?…' he thought, miserably. He was only trying to be fun, lighten Malik's mood a little. The man was far too uptight, after all.

"Psshht, last time I ever do something nice for him…" he grumbled. Yeah, sure. That's what he always said…

He sat there for an hour or so, thinking of something else to do, but came to no interesting conclusion. He actually thought of doing his job, but that was quickly waved away. That was no fun. He needed to find something fun that Malik would enjoy. Something that would make him happier.

He sat a little while longer, still in thought.

"That's it!" He yelled, jumping and startling some peasants and beggars, he sped off to the town's market.

* * *

Malik cursed at himself, for letting Altair leave, anyway. He didn't specifically want the younger assassin to leave. He just wanted him to shut up for a few minutes. At least let him finish his work before he bothered him. But it was barely noon and Altair had already berated him with his obnoxious over eager and ever happy attitude. Malik was not amused.

Sighing heavily, Malik decided to get back to work and let Altair to vent however he saw fit. Whether that be destroying hay stacks or killing useless Templars just because he could. Maybe this will even make him get his work done…Malik thought about it and chuckled lightly, Not very likely…

After another couple hours, Malik was finished. He heaved a sigh of relief and packed his things away for tomorrow morning. Not even five minutes later Altair dropped from the roof above, nodding to Malik, and made his way to the backroom of Bureau. Malik blinked. Altair didn't utter one word at all. "Strange…" he muttered to himself.

Altair loved making his presence known, whether it was intentional or not. During almost every serious mission Altair would go on, he would set off the city's alarm bells as he scurried away towards the Bureau, towards his only safe haven. He and Malik would sit and talk, sometimes even read while they awaited the cities alarm bells to quite so that he could go along with the rest of his mission. But, not hearing the alarm bells, Malik figured the younger of the two couldn't have possibly killed anyone yet. So, this leaves sulking or he's up to some sort of prank. Unluckily for Malik, he wasn't sure just which one it was yet.

* * *

During the early evening, Malik peeked into the back room, trying to catch a glimpse of what the other assassin was doing. He sat, with his back to the door, hood down and quill in hand. There were crumpled papers littered across the room's floor. Altair scratched his head, obviously deep in thought, crossing out yet another line on the paper he seemed so absorbed in.

"Altair," Malik called gently. Wanting to tell the other that he needed to go out to the market, but got no response. He frowned and tried again, finally getting a half hearted, 'yeah, whatever,' as a response. Malik rolled his eyes and shut the door quietly behind him.

Altair waited until he couldn't hear Malik's footsteps to finally get up and brushed off the ink on his robes. He took the small piece of paper he was writing on and held it tightly in his hand. His other hand dug into his pocket and found what he was looking for, he silently crept across the Bureau and placed each onto malik's desk, arranging them so that Malik would see them first as he walked back into the Bureau, and padded back into the backroom to clean up his mess. Smiling slightly as he did so.

Malik returned a little later then he had thought he would. He brought food for both him and Altair and could instantly feel something was wrong. Something was out of place. He scanned the room critically and couldn't find anything specifically out of place. Everything was just as he left it, until he glanced at his desk.

The desk was more or less how he left it, papers and notes all stacked correctly, but that was not what was so out of place. It was the two new additions to the desk he wasn't so sure about.

In the very middle of the desk was one incredibly soft petaled flower. The thing that amazed Malik the most about it was the color. It was a very vibrant white color, but more specifically, it was a rose. 'Now, who could have left such a-' Malik glanced down once again to find a small hand written note as well. He picked it up and squinted, trying his hardest to make out who exactly it could have been…

* * *

_To be continued..._


End file.
